


know better.

by daffodoie



Series: (fluffy) 5 AM dotae fics [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (all other NCT 127 members except bby Sicheng are mentioned in passing), M/M, Pass it on, dotae soulmates, doyoung treasures his loved ones so much, he's such a sweetheart, hurt and comfort-ish?, leader taeyong deserves better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daffodoie/pseuds/daffodoie
Summary: Taeyong is being scolded by their dance teacher and Doyoung doesn't want to see it anymore.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Series: (fluffy) 5 AM dotae fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754260
Comments: 3
Kudos: 203





	know better.

The air in the practice room was heavy, almost suffocating.

Hours of dance practice for their new comeback was leaving the members sore and ready for their beds the moment the music stopped. Just like now.

The younger ones, Haechan, Mark, Jungwoo and Jaehyun, were quick to leave the room, going for the showers, while the rest of the older members sat in varying places of the room to catch their breath.

Except Taeyong.

He was still standing in front of the mirrors, torso bent down as his hands gripped his thighs, chest heaving.

Doyoung's eyes followed Taeyong from where he was seated on the floor next to a panting Yuta and watched as the dance teacher, that had been giving them corrections the whole day long, motioned for the leader to come over to him.

The teacher was a new one they had been working with and although he might've been a good teacher, pushing them to do better, he also left everyone, especially Taeyong, even more stressed than usual.

Johnny handed everyone a water bottle which Doyoung gladly took, also taking one for Taeyong who was now standing in front of their teacher with his head bowed. He furrowed his brows as he twisted the cap off his bottle, still watching Taeyong from across the room.

The look on the teacher's face was stern, one hand on his hip, the other gesturing wildly.

Taeyong kept scratching at the scar under his right eye, a nervous habit he had kept over the years long after the wound had healed. And Doyoung felt more and more uncomfortable by the minute, seeing his Taeyong shrink under the gaze of the man in front of him.

He couldn't make out a lot of what the man was saying, he could only catch a few words every now and then - "have to be better", "disappointing", "not sharp enough", _"not good enough"._

Doyoung looked over to Johnny and Taeil, exchanging worried glances with them - Taeil apologetically shrugging his shoulders, Johnny pressing his lips into a tight line.

He tried to keep his cool, tried hard not to go over there and yank Taeyong away, but it was getting harder and harder the longer he watched the scene unfold.

And it wasn't much longer before Doyoung really couldn't hold back anymore and stood up. Yuta grabbed his hand.

"Hey, don't get mad." Yuta looked up and warned him. Doyoung knew he was right, he had to be careful talking to their teachers, but that didn't mean he'd simply sit back and watch.

He nodded and Yuta let go of him, offering him a small, encouraging smile as he prepared to walk over to Taeyong.

He had approximately three seconds to come up with an excuse to interrupt the conversation, knowing he'd get a weird look no matter how legitimate and polite his reason was.

"Hyung. Taeyong-hyung."

He stood right next to them, putting a hand on Taeyong's shoulder. The teacher finally stopped the flailing of his hand.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but Haechannie _really_ needs Taeyong-hyung outside."

Taeyong's expression immediately changed to a worried one as soon as he heard that and he nervously searched for the permission of their teacher with his eyes.

"It's nothing bad, but can he come with me for a second, please?" Doyoung urged.

The dance teacher sighed. "Fine, you can go. Remember what I said." 

With that, the man left to gather up his stuff and Doyoung used the opportunity to quickly usher Taeyong out of the room.

The moment they were out of sight, he grabbed Taeyong's hand instead and led him to the showers.

"Where's Haechan? What's wrong?" He asked as Doyoung pushed him into one of the obviously empty washing rooms, closing the door behind them.

"Doyoung, what's wrong?" Taeyong repeated and he looked so worried - he was so caring and thoughtful towards his members, it made Doyoung love him all the more.

Doyoung leaned against the wall, squeezing Taeyong's hand he was still holding.

"Nothing. Haechan left with the others already."

Taeyong furrowed his eyebrows together, visibly confused.

"So.. why are we here then?"

Doyoung sighed and pulled him closer.

"I just wanted to get you out of there. I don't like the way the teacher talks to you."

There was a small smile that appeared on Taeyong's face.

"What? Well.. it's his job to help us improve."

"All he's been doing is complain about how we're not doing a good job. You know that's not true. You know everyone's been working so hard for this comeback, especially you, but he keeps directing all the criticsm towards you."

Taeyong blew out a huff of air, swaying side to side on his feet.

"I don't know, I feel like he's isn't all wrong."

That didn't sit right with Doyoung. Irritatedly, he squeezed Taeyong's hand even harder this time.

"You know better than that, Taeyong. He's getting in your head. His issues aren't ones we can fix. Everyone has their own style and way of executing the moves, it's what gives us the stage presence. It's what makes us _us_ and you know that better than me. He wants us to dance like robots, he just wants to have his way. I don't like it."

The smile faded off of Taeyong's face slowly. He let his eyes travel to the ground and took Doyoung's other hand, intertwining their fingers. He looked back up into Doyoung's eyes.

"You don't have to take it. You shouldn't have to take everything he throws at you. We're doing well, _you're_ doing so well. You don't deserve that, okay?"

He felt so upset, he was growing more aggravated with every word he spoke because he knew how Taeyong filed away every comment deep down in his heart, carrying it with him at all times, the burden of it growing and weighing him down.

And Taeyong watched his face crease up in a frown, looking at him with wide eyes. The way Doyoung let his feelings for him pour out so easily, it made Taeyong weak. Always so weak for him.

"Baby, it's.. okay, it's okay." Taeyong brought his left hand up to cup Doyoung's face.

"I wouldn't be able to do this without you. You're what's giving me the strength to keep going, you know."

Doyoung squeezed around Taeyong's left wrist, stroking over the pale skin with his thumb, the same way Taeyong's hand was stroking his cheek.

"I hate how anxious you look when he talks to you, I don't want to see you like that. Not when you're giving it your all." Taeyong could hear and see how upset Doyoung was.

"I love you," Taeyong started as he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Doyoung's.

"I love you more than anything and thank you so much for always being there."

Doyoung smiled, pressing closer up against Taeyong.

"You know I don't like it when you thank me.. I love you too, in fact, I love you way more."

He tilted his chin up for a kiss and the other happily complied by gently pressing his lips against Doyoung's.

"Impossible. You should know better than that." Taeyong replied after seperating from him.

"Well, I _do_ know better. And I say, you couldn't love me nearly half as much as I love you."

Taeyong's eyes had a challenging glint to them.

"Im-po-ssi-ble", Taeyong stressed once again, "how can you be so sure?"

Doyoung went back in for another kiss, Taeyong's arms now wrapped securely around his waist, his own wrapped around Taeyong's neck.

"I _just_ know better."

**Author's Note:**

> Woohoo, third day in a row! I know I don't have to keep writing these at 5 AM but it just happens.
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed and leave a comment if you did!
> 
> (edit: if you have any wishes for DoTae fics, I might try to give it a shot if you leave them in my CC: https://curiouscat.qa/bunyoungie)


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